Northeastern clobber UMaine in regular season finale

Northeastern University capitalized on four of its seven power-play chances on Saturday night, setting the tone for a 7-1 Hockey East victory over the University of Maine at Matthews Arena in Boston.

The Huskies grabbed a 3-0 lead in the first period, then scored twice each in the second and third periods to improve to 15-2-3 in its last 20 games.

UMaine finished with 14 penalties for 50 minutes, seven of which (including two majors), came in the third period.

“We have to have everybody sharp and intense and that’s not what happened today,” said UMaine coach Red Gendron. “We got into trouble taking penalties as the game wore on and they’re pretty good on the power play.”

The Huskies were assessed eight minor penalties in the game.

The Black Bears (8-22-6, 5-15-2 HE) will be back in Boston on Friday to open a best-of-three Hockey East first-round playoff series against the same Northeastern squad, which improved to 16-13-5 (8-8-4).

The Huskies have earned the No. 6 seed, while UMaine finished 11th in the standings. Senior captain Steven Swavely said knowing about the postseason matchup prior to Saturday’s game didn’t affect what transpired on the ice.